Chelsea skipper Terry pleads for Roman to sign £75m Villa and Ribery

01 June 2009 11:04
John Terry urged Roman Abramovich to spend £75million this summer signing the superstars to turn Chelsea into a major force again in the Barclays Premier League. In a remarkable interview after Terry lifted the FA Cup at Wembley, the Chelsea skipper said the club should sign Franck Ribery and David Villa and he also claimed Carlo Ancelotti will have to stamp out 'bad practices' at Stamford Bridge when he arrives after his departure from AC Milan yesterday. Terry said: 'There's talk of Ribery and Villa and when big players like that come up, we need to show people that Chelsea are back. We want to show we're going to compete for the best players out there. 'We want the likes of Ribery and Villa and if we can get them we can push for the Premier League again. At the same time, we need to keep hold of lads like Didier Drogba, Ashley Cole and Joe Cole, who are up for contract talks. 'Hopefully, the bad things at this club will change. People like Ashley, Didier and Frank Lampard have been fantastic this year.' Terry lifted Chelsea's first trophy since the FA Cup final victory over Manchester United in 2007 after beating Everton 2-1 at Wembley on Saturday, but claims the club have picked up some bad habits. Despite Guus Hiddink's transformation of the Chelsea team as temporary manager, Terry said he would change the culture of the club if he had more influence with the owner. He added: 'As players, we've said what we feel needs to be improved. Hopefully, Roman will listen and things will get done. 'There need to be a couple of changes, a few players brought in maybe; a few players who haven't played in the last couple of years maybe need to move on. 'It's important we get a settled manager now for a couple of years, a settled team and we build on this day. Guus has left big shoes to fill.' Terry said the players had given Hiddink a parting gift of an inscribed Rolex Daytona watch from the captain at an emotional farewell dinner on Friday. He added: 'Frank and I presented him with the watch and thanked him for all his hard work. It's been a pleasure to work with him, on behalf of all the lads. 'He was overwhelmed by it, actually, and took his gift really well. He said he would speak tonight after the game, and, thankfully, we got the right result. He said his farewells. 'I think the relationship between Chelsea Football Club and Guus Hiddink doesn't end today. I think he'll have a big input and a sit down with Roman Abramovich. They're very close anyway and he's obviously seen things that need to be changed at this football club.' Despite winning the FA Cup, the Chelsea skipper remains furious with former team-mate Claude Makelele for claiming in his newly released autobiography that Terry demanded a transfer when former manager Jose Mourinho threatened to leave him out of the team in September 2007. Terry said: 'Funnily enough, Jose Mourinho called me. It's bizarre, actually, because he knows the truth and I was one of three players phoning Roman at 1am or 2am the night I heard he'd been sacked to keep him on. 'I was speaking to (chief executive) Peter Kenyon, speaking to Roman, speaking to (director) Eugene Tenenbaum and hoping we could keep him. Myself, Lamps and Didier were all fighting to keep him at two in the morning. 'So it's bizarre where it's come from. I spoke with him (Mourinho) today and he's totally fine with it. He wished me and the lads well, hoping we could lift the trophy and we've done that. 'My statement summed it up, but me and Jose know the truth. It's bizarre that Maka has put this in his book, but I tried to call him and his phone was off. I'm sure I'll make contact in the next few days.' Mourinho, meanwhile, let his minor coaching team at Inter Milan sit on the bench instead of his usual staff at the San Siro yesterday as the club celebrated their Serie A title success. Inter had already won the title in Mourinho's first season in charge and a 4-3 home win over Atalanta meant they finished 10 points clear of Ancelotti's runners-up AC Milan. Inter's retiring Portuguese winger Luis Figo said goodbye to football with an emotional farewell and received an embrace from compatriot Mourinho. Russia winger Yuri Zhirkov, who is widely expected to sign for Chelsea from CSKA Moscow this summer, says he is excited by the prospect of playing in the Premier League. Chelsea are ahead of Bayern Munich in the race to sign Zhirkov thanks to the good relationship between Abramovich and CSKA. Germany captain Michael Ballack has agreed a one-year extension to his contract at Stamford Bridge.

Source: Daily_Mail